- Brussels Airport lost 50,000 passengers due to the ongoing Middle East conflict and flight suspensions.
- Major routes to Tel Aviv and Doha are fully cancelled, impacting Brussels Airlines and Qatar Airways.
- Weekly financial losses for the airport and airlines are estimated between €4 million and €6 million.
(BRUSSELS, BELGIUM): Brussels Airport has lost nearly 50,000 passengers as the Middle East conflict forced the suspension or reduction of several long-haul flights. If you booked a trip through Brussels on routes to Israel or the Gulf, the airline schedule has changed enough to affect both cash tickets and award travel.
The airport said the missing traffic amounts to about 7% of its pre-conflict long-haul capacity to the Gulf and Israel. Even so, Brussels Airport still reported a 1.9% rise in total passenger numbers in March, driven by demand on other routes.
Flights to Tel Aviv and Doha have been fully cancelled. Services to Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been cut back sharply. The disruption hits Brussels Airlines, Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, all of which rely on long-haul links through the airport.
Each week of suspension is estimated to cost airlines and ground-handling companies at the airport between €4 million and €6 million. That figure covers lost revenue from passenger flights, airport services and related operations tied to those routes.
The cuts follow airspace closures and security concerns after Iranian missile strikes on Israeli targets and the wider regional escalation. Airlines have kept adjusting schedules as access to parts of regional airspace has changed, and those decisions have rippled through Brussels’ long-haul network.
Brussels has still held up better than the route losses alone suggest. Demand on other destinations has helped offset the Middle East downturn, and the airport has continued to pull in alternative traffic as carriers redeploy aircraft elsewhere in Europe.
| Route | Status | Airline impact |
|---|---|---|
| Tel Aviv | Cancelled | Brussels Airlines |
| Doha | Cancelled | Qatar Airways |
| Dubai | Scaled back | Emirates |
| Abu Dhabi | Scaled back | Etihad |
For travelers holding paid tickets, the immediate issue is rebooking or refund options. Award tickets booked with airline miles usually follow the same operational disruptions, which means rerouting, redeposit rules or schedule-change protections depend on the carrier and fare type.
That matters on long-haul routes, where one cancelled flight can break a full itinerary and strand a connection across multiple carriers. Brussels is also a key European gateway for travelers heading to the Gulf, so the cuts remove a convenient one-stop option for both business and leisure trips.
Competitive pressure has also shifted. Carriers with stronger schedules to North America and intra-Europe routes have been able to absorb some displaced demand, while Gulf carriers have had to trim capacity in markets where they normally compete hard on premium-cabin sales and connecting traffic. Brussels Airport has so far shown that it can replace some of the lost volume, but the Middle East network remains exposed as security conditions change. Travelers with upcoming bookings to Tel Aviv, Doha, Dubai or Abu Dhabi should check their airline status now and rebook before the next schedule revision lands.
